The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1887-07-02
THE yICKsBURG MONUMENT.
Address Of Col. Lewis Gnion Oh Behalf
of Louisiana, in Turning over the
Monument to Citizcns of VicksburS.

at the recent unveiling of the mon-
ument erected at Vicksburg to the
memory of the Louisiana troops who
fell In the seige of that city during the
civil war, Col. Lewis Guion, of Thtbo-
daux, delivered the address on behalf
OF Louisiana, only a brief synopsis OF
which has heretofore been published.
We are indebted to the Times Demo-
crat for Col. Guion's remarks in their
entirety:
Fellow comrades, Fellow citizens,
Ladies and Genllemen-It Is source
Of deep qualification to me that am
able, after lapse Of so many years, TO
be again In city from which carried
away. in spite of war, 80 many pleas
ant memories, and on mission so en-
tirely genial to me, and under auspices
SO agreeable. l am well aware that !
cannot, with "thoughts that breathe
and words that burn" present this
monument as it will be received by
him who has so justly earned and who
so WoTthily bears the title of the "sil>
ver-tongued orator oi Mississippi :"
but yield to no man in warm adj
miration for the heroic souls who
bfeathed out their lives in the pits of
Vicksburg, aud sealed with their blood
their devotion to cause they consid-
cred right, aud the noble women, who,
by their cheerfulness, constancy, forti.
tude and devotion held up the hands
of their brave defenders. Twenty. four
years-almOst a generation-havep pass
ed, and what change. Then around
this beleaguered city for fifteen miles
lay an army of 70, 600 men, commanded
by him whom the Federals considered
their greatest captain; armed with the
most approved weapons, with plenty
of ammunition, we'll equipped, well
clad, we'll fed and flushed with the
victories of Bruinsburg, Raymond,
Jackson, Champion Hills aud Big
Black Ridge, while
INSIDE OF THE DEVOTED CITY.
under burning summer sun, poorly
fed, poorly clothed and compelled to
drink bad water, 1900 men tit for
duty, holding line seven miles long,
or one man in single rank to more than
three feet, on the Fourth of July sur-
rendered. In this memorable struggle
Louisiana did her full share with her
nine regiments of infantry, one regi-
ment and one battalion of heavy artiI-
lery and parts OF two companies of
light artillery. How they fought end
how they died! History on her pages
and the grassy mounds that dot the
hillsides, and this shaft. so mutely elo-
quent, will tell. In every age the love
of people for their dead heroes finds
in some shape or another,
whether by costly mausoteums, memo
rial churches or marble monumen. g, but
it Is reserved for modern civilization
to exhibit, as a triumph for n republi-
can form Of government and free in
the spectacle OF Il conquered
people, with the assent, hearty concur
renee and participation Of the conquer.
ers, making possible what is now tax
ing place here to-day. Does any one
believe that Harold the Saxon could
have been publicly honored after death,
or that the House Of Lancaster would
have been permitted by the House of
York to keep alive tho memory OF
their dead heroes? Do not understand
me, fellow-citizens, In giving this un-
stinted
PRAJ JsE TO THE NORTHERN PEOPLE
that l unreservedly approve every
thing which has been done since the
war, for there Is much TO condemn.
There are now two laws upon the
statute books OF the United States
which are disgrace to a great nation
One the disi'anchisement of JefYer-
son Davis and the other the ineli9i.
bility Of ex-Coniederates to hold Office
In the United States army. / say It
before you, Mississippians, with whom
he has lived all his life, and to all old
Confederates, that Jefferson Davis is
now as true to the old flag as he was
once faithful to The new; as true as
when in Mexico with his Mississippi
ans he rolled back the tide OF battle.
We often hear our struggle spoken
OF rs the "Lost Cause" but no cause
is wholly lost which has been worthiIy
fought, and even in the "toad's head
there lies jewell" so from ii we may
learn lessons OF wisdom. Our fight has
taught US to know each other better.
Before the war the Northern people
looked upon the Southerner5 AS u high.
spirited, generous, brave aud hospita-
BILE people; but lazy, thriftless and
with no stability or fixedness of pur.
pose, while we considered them hard,
grasping race, looking only after the
material things of life in which none
OF the equities ever entered. They
have found in US constancy aud en-
durance amid the most adverse circum-
stances, and we have shown what they